The Woman of Andros explained

The Woman of Andros is a 1930 novel by Thornton Wilder. Inspired by Andria, a comedy by Terence, it was the third-best selling book in the United States in 1930.

The novel is set on the fictional Greek island of Brynos in the pre-Christian era, probably around 200 B.C. (i.e., in the decline of Greece's golden age though the novel does not give an explicit date)^{[1] [2]} The book examines conflicts between Christian and pre-Christian morality.

Though some reviews considered the novel a masterpiece, others were more critical.^[3] This was the first time that Wilder's work received any significant negative critical response. Mike Gold's review in The New Republic faulted Wilder for not addressing modern social issues.^{[4] [5]}

Notes and References

1. http://www.harpercollins.ca/books/Cabala-Woman-Andros-Thornton-Wilder/?isbn=9780060518578 The Cabala and The Woman of Andros - Two Novels
2. (23 February 1930). Thornton Wilder's New Tale Has Classic Beauty; In Its Perfection of Form, "The Woman of Andros" Surpasses His Previous Work (book review), The New York Times
3. https://web.archive.org/web/20141129235355/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/177102/Thornton-Wilder/biography All Movie Guide Biography
4. Ho, Melanie. Useful Fiction: Why Universities Need Middlebrow Literature (2008 UCLA Ph.D. dissertation)
5. Dirda, Michael. The Chameleon: Thornton Wilder's multifaced life and work, Harper's Magazine (January 2013)